


Don't Know Where I Am or Where I've Been (But I Know Where I Want to Go)

by wherehopelies



Series: I'd Rather Be With You (Say You Want the Same Thing Too) [4]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Beach Holidays, Bemily Week 2019, F/F, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, a lil kissing a lil cudding some sexy times, disney vacay, harry potter sort of????, it's basically me as oprah being like: you get a trope YOU get a trope, kind of slow burn, long ass title for no reason, lots of flirting, no angst that's right, they hold hands a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 11:39:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherehopelies/pseuds/wherehopelies
Summary: "Beca likes the way Emily turns her face to the sun sometimes, trying to soak in the warmth of summer. She likes the way Emily wiggles in her seat when a song she particularly loves comes on. She likes the simple back and forth between them, no pressure to talk or live up to some kind of expectation. It’s just her and Emily, the road and the music and everything in between."for bemily week 2019 days 3, 5, and 6 - road trip, oh no there's only one bed, and harry potter.





	Don't Know Where I Am or Where I've Been (But I Know Where I Want to Go)

**Author's Note:**

> Title song based off bright eyes first day of my life. ive never written this much in such a short period of time before so if it feels rushed, then ??? oh well. thanks for reading.

The series of circumstances that led Beca to be driving down I-75, the sun in her eyes and Emily Junk singing along to Blink-182 in the passenger seat, are not so much a mystery to her as they are a blur of confused choices that Beca doesn't quite remember actively making.

First came the invitation from Chloe. A couple of days, post-graduation and Worlds, spent at her family's beach house in Miami. The Bellas’ final hurrah, a way to unwind after the stress of school and international competition before they break into the real world. Beca had tentatively asked how much it would cost and Chloe had taken that for a firm yes it seemed. Suddenly Beca was in a group chat with the others who had agreed and Chloe was taking charge of the planning, telling them what to pack, organizing a little-over-halfway stop to see Mickey in Orlando, delegating who would bring booze and who would bring food.

Then it was who was going to drive, and Beca had little voice in the matter here, as she was one of the few Bellas with a car. To be fair, she didn't even _have_ a car, but her dad had a car and lived only ten minutes from her, so to Chloe, Beca had a car.

Then there was the discussion of who would go in whose car, which was less of a discussion and more of an unspoken arrangement that had been carefully calculated over four years of knowing each other. There were only six of them going, so Beca reasoned it would be three and three. Cynthia Rose and Flo immediately claimed seats in Chloe's car, which left Emily and Stacie with Beca, but in seconds Stacie had unsurprisingly announced she would not be going with Beca, as always, due to Beca's “refusal to go the speed limit or let anyone else pick the music.”

These circumstances seemed to make sense when considered one at a time in Beca's mind, but when she put them all together, they seemed to blur into an unending chain of events in which Beca had not made one decision at all. So that’s why she finds herself cruising down the interstate wondering how exactly she got to this moment.

They’ve been driving for about an hour, exchanging small talk and singing to the music. Next to her, Emily has her feet up on the dashboard and is tapping a beat on her knees. The song had switched over to Florence and the Machine a few seconds ago, and Emily's currently harmonizing absentmindedly. Beca glances over as she drives, enjoying Emily’s easy presence and the sunshine warming the interior of the car. They'd become closer in the time since the retreat, and Beca found herself at ease in Emily's quiet company.

Emily catches her looking and stops singing mid-lyric. “What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing,” Beca says. “Just, uh, nobody ever wants to drive with me.”

“Mmm, yeah, Stacie said you have emo music taste and that I’d arrive in Florida depressed if I came in your car.”

Beca snorts. “Kay. It’s not _that_ emo.”

“It kind of is,” Emily laughs. “But I happen to _like_ emo music, so.”

“Well you’re lucky you came with me. Chloe doesn’t let people eat in her car and she definitely would yell at you to take your feet off the dash.”

Emily shifts in her seat. “Oh. Do you want me to take them off? Sorry.”

“No,” Beca’s quick to say. There was something nice about Emily relaxing back in the passenger seat, feet on the dash, sunglasses loosely resting on her nose. “It’s chill. This is my dad’s car anyway.”

“Alright then.” Emily gives her an easy smile before rummaging in the drawstring bag she’d brought up front with her. Beca glances over again as Emily pulls out a folded-up rectangular pamphlet. She starts unfolding it, spreading it out on her raised knees.

“We have GPS, you know.”

Emily pushes her sunglasses up on her head. “Yeah, but this tells you interesting facts and all the fun places along the way. See, look.” She holds the cover of the map up. “It’s just for Georgia and Florida. I got it at Triple-A.” Then she pulls two more rectangles out of her bag. “There’s also one just for Orlando and one just for Miami. There’s like, _so_ much to do.”

Beca chuckles. “Have you ever been?”

“Nuh uh. I went to Disneyland once with my family. But that’s the one in California and I don’t really remember much because I was like, five. I think I peed my pants on Space Mountain.”

Beca snorts. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I don’t have high expectations so I’m sure this trip will be better.” Emily turns in her seat to face Beca better. “Have you been?”

“I’ve been to Orlando, but I haven’t been to Chloe’s beach house.”

Emily leans forward in interest. “Have you been to Disney World?”

“Mhmm.”

“Have you been to Harry Potter World?”

“Nah. And before you ask, no, I haven’t read the books.”

Emily gasps. “Have you at least seen the movies?”

“Yeah, I watched like, three of them with Jesse.”

“Oh...” She can feel Emily frowning at her. “We don’t have to talk about it then. Sorry.”

Beca smiles slightly, looking over at Emily for a second. “No, it’s fine. Everybody is like, walking on eggshells about the situation and it’s really annoying actually. It’s like they’re bringing it up without actually bringing it up by avoiding it so much. I dunno.” Beca shrugs. “We broke up, I dunno why everyone just wants to pretend it didn’t happen. And honestly I thought I’d be more upset, but the fact that I’m not is kind of… telling, I guess. We dated for two and a half years, you’d think I’d be sadder, but it’s just like… oh okay.”

Emily hums thoughtfully. “Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet?”

“I mean, it’s been three months since he moved to LA. You’d think I would’ve started to miss him by now. And I do, but not… not how I should, I guess.”

“Did he want to try long distance?”

“Yeah, we talked about it. He wanted to, but I just realized that I like, never wanna live in LA, dude. Like, ever. And that’s where everything in his field happens, so. In the long run we were gonna have to make a decision. I just decided to make it now instead.”

Emily nods. “Gotcha. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. When you know something, you know.”

“Mhmm.” Beca taps the steering wheel, shooting Emily a teasing smile. “Well, what about you?”

“Me?”

“Uh huh.” Beca raises an eyebrow. “I saw you and Benji kissing, you know.”

She can practically feel Emily blush. “Oh, God.” Emily gives an embarrassed laugh. “That was just like, a one-time thing.”

“Was it?”

“Um, yeah.” Emily shrugs. “He’s like, also moving long distance. And he’s like, so cute and stuff, but I think that was just a heat of the moment thing? After everything slowed down and we got back to the States, I was like _oh crap does that mean he’s my boyfriend?_ And I don’t think that’s what you’re supposed to feel about someone who might be your boyfriend.”

Beca snorts. “No, probably not.”

“Yeah, so, you know. I think we’re friends, maybe? I dunno, he moved to Seattle anyway so it’s not like I’ll see him.”

“Word.”

“Plus,” Emily adds. “I have to focus on Bellas stuff if I’m gonna live up to our reputation now that we’re reinstated. It’s kind of a lot of pressure.”

Beca nods, thinking about her time as captain. “I definitely feel that, but try not to think of it like that. Or you might end up as crazy as Chloe.”

Emily chuckles. “Yeah. That’s definitely _not_ the goal.”

“I mean, just think of the friendship part or whatever. How Bellas are family and all that cheesy shit. The other stuff will fall into place.”

“Yeah,” Emily murmurs. “I just don’t want to let anyone down.”

“You won’t,” Beca assures her. “Like, I know they make it seem like being a Bella is your whole life or whatever, but trust me dude, the world has bigger plans for you.”

They sit in silence for a minute, the music a low hum filling the car. Eventually Emily gives her a soft look across the console. “Thanks,” she says quietly. “Can I like, get real with you for a second?”

“Mhmm.”

“I’m just like, really glad I met you. The Bellas kind of weren’t what I expected and I think if you hadn’t been here this year I might have ended up quitting.”

An unexpected warmth spreads through her body at the compliment. She rubs at her nose distractedly, feeling self-conscious and twitchy. “Yeah, uh. You’re welcome. But honestly, I think you got it backward.”

“Backward?”

“Yeah,” Beca nods. “I think if you weren’t in the Bellas, things would have gone way different for me this year. Way different for everyone, actually.”

Emily tilts her head. “How do you mean?”

“Well you saw what they were like. All crazy and scattered. I think you being there kind of helped us remember how we were as freshmen and what we had to do to make it work together.” Beca shrugs. “And well, what you’ve done for me is obvious. I wouldn’t have gotten this permanent job at Residual without you, that’s for sure.”

“I think you would’ve,” Emily argues. “You just needed something to work with and what I had just happened to be there.”

“Maybe.” Beca hesitates, feelings her insecurities creeping in. “The thing is that I’m good at the music, at the concept of it, you know? But when my boss said I had nothing new to say, he wasn’t wrong. That stuff just doesn’t come naturally to me. And the whole year I kept trying to, like, express that to people. Chloe. Jesse. My dad. And it’s just like. I dunno, it’s like they couldn’t understand what I was saying. They were all just busy with their own things and being like _you got this, you’re so talented, he’s stupid_. Like, no, God, just stop, you’re not helpful. But it’s like... I didn’t even say anything to you and you just _got it_.” Beca exhales heavily. “I dunno... It’s stupid.”

Emily reaches across the console, giving Beca’s arm a quick squeeze before pulling back. “It’s not stupid.” Emily pauses. “Do you ever just get the sense that people don’t _hear_ you?”

“All the fucking time.”

“Yeah,” Emily sighs, looking out the window. “Me too.” She leans her chin on her hand, elbow on her raised knee. “It’s like everyone is on the same page except for me. I’m like on some completely other wavelength that they can’t hear.”

“I’ve had that literal thought like a hundred times.”

Emily smiles over at her. “I think maybe we’re the only two on that channel and everyone else has satellite radio or something.”

Beca laughs. “Yeah, could be. I ain’t got the cash for that.”

“Truth.”

Beca turns the music back up after that. Neither of them sing, lost in their own thoughts, but it’s nice, the perfect kind of comfortable that Beca enjoys. They spend the next hour or so like this, sitting quietly. Sometimes Emily will briefly break their silence to share something interesting she reads in her pamphlet. Sometimes Beca will point out funny billboards.

It’s easy and fun. Beca likes the way Emily turns her face to the sun sometimes, trying to soak in the warmth of summer. She likes the way Emily wiggles in her seat when a song she particularly loves comes on. She likes the simple back and forth between them, no pressure to talk or live up to some kind of expectation.

It’s just her and Emily, the road and the music and everything in between.

Beca thinks maybe the two of them probably do exist on the same wavelength.

//

“I gotta get gas. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I could eat. Are we far from Orlando?”

Beca glances at the GPS. They’d just passed the Florida Georgia state line. “About halfway there. Few more hours.” She pauses her playlist and hands Emily her phone. “Can you call Chloe and tell her we’re stopping? I think they’re only a bit ahead of us.”

“Mhmm.” Emily scrolls a bit on the phone and then the call connects to the blue-tooth, coming from the car’s speakers.

Chloe picks up after one ring. “ _Hey!”_

“Yeah, hey,” Beca says. “I gotta get gas and we’re hungry. Do you wanna stop up here?”

_“Sure, what exit are you guys near?”_

Beca looks, but doesn’t see a sign at the moment. “Not sure, but we just passed into Florida like three minutes ago.”

_“What?”_

She can hear Stacie laughing in the background of the car. “ _Told you she drives like an old person.”_

_“We’re like thirty minutes ahead of you, Bec.”_

Beca glances across the console to see Emily giving her an amused smile. She shakes her head in exasperation. “My cruise control is at five miles an hour over the speed limit…”

_“Maybe your cruise control is broken.”_

“It’s not.”

_“Well, I don’t know what to tell you.”_

“You’re gonna get pulled over and then you’ll be sorry.” Beca rolls her eyes. “Okay, well we need to stop so…”

Chloe laughs. _“Okay. You have the address right? I mean, we’ll have to stop soon too, but we can just meet at the hotel tonight. No big.”_

“Yeah, okay, that’s fine.”

_“Emily!”_ Cynthia Rose yells from the other line. _“Tell us you’re alive and Beca hasn’t made you cry with her music._ ”

Emily giggles. “No, we’re having a good time.”

_“Cough once if Beca forced you to say that,”_ Flo says.

“Okay, you know what,” Beca scoffs. “I don’t have to take this. I’m hanging up now. Bye nerds.”

Beca kills the call, slouching back in her seat. Emily grins over at her. “They just love to tease you because you’re so grumpy about it.”

“I question my friendship with them on a daily basis. Oh, here.” Beca nods her head at the sign for the next exit. “Gas and food.”

“Sounds good.”

She gets off at the exit and they pull into a truckstop with a diner and a gas station. Beca fills the tank and then they park the car at the diner. Beca rolls her eyes as they step inside.

It’s one of those cliche old-fashioned diners, complete with cherry red booths, Elvis decorations, and a jukebox in the corner. Emily doesn’t see it until they’re seated at a booth, but when she does, her eyes light up at the sight of the old machine.

“Oh my God. Bec, they have a jukebox.” She grabs Beca by the wrist across the table. “I’ve never actually seen one.”

Beca stares at her. “What? Really?”

“Yeah. Not an old-fashioned one that plays records. I’ve seen those new digital ones, but that’s not as cool.” She gives Beca an excited look, her eyes wide. “Do you have change? Please let me borrow a quarter.”

“Uh.” Beca rummages in her wallet for a second. “I only have two, but you can just have them.”

Emily beams at her. “I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s fifty cents...”

“Oh my God. Love you, be right back.”

“Wait, what if she comes to take our drink order?”

But Emily’s already sliding out of the booth. “Milkshake, water, whatever. You pick!”

Beca just watches as Emily hurries across the restaurant to the jukebox. She shakes her head in amusement and turns back to the menu. The waitress comes and takes their drink order and Beca’s already decided what she wants, but Emily’s still at the jukebox, so Beca pretends she’s still looking at the menu. She glances up every few seconds to watch Emily hit the button to flip through the records, her nose practically pressed to the glass of the old machine.

Finally, she slides back into the booth. Beca looks up from the menu. “You choose something?”

“Mhmm. They’re next.” Emily pushes her menu away from her without looking at it and Beca raises an eyebrow.

“I ordered you a chocolate milkshake. Do you know what you wanna eat?”

“Yeah, probably just a burger.”

“Okay. They also serve breakfast, though. Aren’t you one of those breakfast all day people?”

Emily snatches the menu back. “Okay, wait. Pancakes. And hashbrowns. And bacon.”

Beca laughs. “With a chocolate milkshake?”

“Why not? I’m an adult and I have my own money.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Beca says just as the waitress comes to take their order and give them their drinks.

After they give their order and the waitress leaves, Emily points her finger upward. “It’s playing.”

Beca tilts her head, trying to listen to the song over the general noise of the diner. She recognizes the song, but she doesn’t know who it’s by or what it’s called. “I think I know this. It’s a bit older.”

“Well they only had pre-90s tracks. Most of it was 70s and 80s.” Emily rests her chin in her hand on the tabletop. “I like that stuff though. I feel like music had more feeling then. I mean, songs today have feeling, too, but there’s something about older music that makes me feel more like, emotional or something.”

Beca nods. “I mean, I feel like today there’s more focus on lyrics if you’re trying to make an emotional song. If you’re focusing on the music, then most of the songs now are trying to have a good beat, make it something to dance to, or whatever. Back then, it was more a combination of the two.”

“Yeah.” Emily pauses for a moment. “This song makes me want to dramatically flop on my bed and clutch my heart and think deeply about my life.”

Beca laughs. “Who is it?”

“Tears for Fears. They sing that ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ song.”

“Oh yeah.”

Emily stares out at the diner, just listening. Beca watches, taking in the way Emily seems to look through it all, her expression thoughtful. Overhead the singer croons _I never find out ‘til I’m head over heels_ and Beca feels the moment slip under her ribcage, the rawness of the song, the pretty softness of Emily’s profile.

She shifts in her seat, crosses her ankles, sits on her hands, but it does nothing to quell the strange feeling now spreading through her body. She can’t quite identify it, but looking at Emily across from her, she has the sudden sensation of deja vu.

She blinks herself out of it when the song ends. Beca takes a sip of her Coke as another one starts. She recognizes it as ‘The Things We Do For Love’. “Did you pick this one, too?”

“Yeah.” Emily sips at her milkshake, smiling around her straw. “I like it.”

“I know this is 70s, but I lowkey feel like you just perpetually belong in this 50s diner aesthetic.”

“Then you’re really gonna love it when I tell you that I went as that for Halloween like three different years.”

Beca grins. “Poodle skirt and a high ponytail?”

“Mhmm. And red lipstick.”

“Wow.”

Emily sticks her tongue out. “It was totally hot, Beca, okay.”

“I’m not commenting on your adolescent Halloween costumes.”

“Yeah that’s fair.” Emily laughs. “I think I could fit in the 70s, though. I could rock some bellbottoms.”

Beca scrunches her nose. “I’m sure you could pull off fashion from any era. I, on the other hand, need to stay in the present where I can wear pants and t-shirts.”

“Cynthia Rose showed me pictures from your first couple years at Barden. You definitely should rethink moving away from that look. It was hot.” Emily freezes, her cheeks pinking. “Not that you’re not hot now, you totally are. Just uh. I have a love of flannel. It’s so soft and uh, you looked gayyooooood. Good. GOOD. Oh geez.”

Emily’s saved from further embarrassment when their waitress sets their food down in front of them. As soon as the waitress leaves, she stuffs a bite of bacon in her mouth as if that will help her shut up.

“I resent that you think my outfits don’t look gay anymore,” Beca teases her.

Emily blushes a deeper shade of red. “I said good.”

“You _for sure_ were gonna say gay.”

“Please leave me here to die,” Emily groans. “You can continue on to Orlando and I’m just gonna stay here. I live in this diner now. It’s my home.”

Beca tosses a fry at her. “It’s not. Speaking of which.” She glances at her phone. “Eat quickly so we can catch up to those nerds.”

“Only if you erase the past two minutes from your memory.”

“Yeah, that’s so not gonna happen.”

//

They get to the hotel in Orlando around mid-afternoon, just an hour behind the rest of the group. Chloe had texted them her and Flo’s room number and told them to come over once they got checked in.

“Guess we’re roomies,” Emily says as they approach the front desk.

“You know we’re gonna get lumped together this whole trip now?” Beca asks, giving Emily a teasing smile. “Hope you can handle this.”

Emily nudges her with her elbow. “I brought lots of snacks, so. You’re lucky to be with me, to be honest.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna share those Sour Patch Kids later.” She clears her throat once it’s their turn to check in. “Hi, I have a reservation under Beca Mitchell.”

The front desk lady types on her computer. She hums when she reads whatever it says. “Oh that’s right. So, it looks like on your reservation you didn’t specify what type of room you wanted so we put you in a single king.” She looks between the two of them. “However, we do have upgrades available. I can do a double full or double queen. There just would be an upgrade charge for each night.”

Beca turns to Emily. “Do you want to upgrade?”

“It’s more expensive?”

“Yeah.”

Emily shrugs. “We don’t need to, I don’t mind. But if you want to, that’s cool, too. I think I can afford it.”

Beca waves her off and turns back to the clerk. “We’ll stay with the single.”

“Okay, great.”

The lady gets them checked in and hands them their room keys. When they get in the elevator, Beca’s happy to see their room is on one of the higher floors.

“Maybe we’ll have a view,” she says as she slides the key in the lock.

Emily makes a noise of acknowledgment. “I’ve never slept in a king size bed.”

“Me neither.”

The door swings open and they step inside. Emily immediately drops her duffle bag and flops backward on the bed. Beca smiles at her and looks around the room. Pretty standard. She goes to the window and peeks out. They have a view of the pool, but that’s about it.

“Bec, look.” She turns around to see Emily starfishing on the bed. “I can spread all the way out and not even reach the edges.”

Beca smirks. “Good, then you won’t hog it with your long ass legs.”

“Wow, rude.” Emily grabs the pillow next to her head and tosses it at Beca, but she dodges it with a laugh. “You’re right, though, I’m a notorious cuddler. Sorry in advance.”

“Forgiven in advance.”

Emily grins over at her. “I’m so excited for this trip. We haven’t even done anything and I’m already having fun.”

“That’s because I’m the life of the party. But don’t tell Chloe I said that.” Beca goes over to the bed and grabs Emily’s ankle. “Speaking of which, guess we should hook back up with those guys. Chloe said something about dinner and then going to bed early. Apparently we have to get a good night’s sleep to be fully prepared for the crazy of Disney World.”

“Ahhh.” Emily sits up, tapping Beca’s hand on her foot. “Will you take pictures with Disney characters with me?”

Beca snorts. “Which ones?”

“All of them, duh.”

“Okay, but I’m not taking any with Goofy. He freaks me out.”

Emily considers this for a second. “Because he’s tall?”

“No because he’s weird.”

“He’s not weird, he’s _goofy_.”

“Wowww. Forget it, I’m not taking any.”

Emily grins and lets Beca pull her off the bed to go meet the rest of the group. “You so are.”

“No.”

“Uh huh.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not.”

But Emily’s giving her this smile and Beca knows she probably will.

//

“I feel sick,” Cynthia Rose groans as they get off the teacups.

“Same,” Beca agrees. “Not to be PG13, but can we please get the hell out of Fantasyland.”

They’d entered Magic Kingdom a few hours before and had been going non-stop since then. It’s just after lunch and all they’d done was spend time in Fantasyland, which Beca’s quickly starting to hate after the teacups and It’s a Small World.

“Is there even anything left to do here?” Flo asks, looking at the map. “We’ve done the teacups, the rollercoaster, and the Little Mermaid one.”

“And It’s a Small World,” Emily chirps. “Don’t forget that one.”

Stacie snorts. “How could we forget it? It’s stuck in our heads.”

“Let’s go to the next land over,” Chloe suggests. “I think we’ve done all the good stuff here.”

“That’s… Liberty Square,” Flo says, consulting the map still. “Ooh, that’s the one with the Haunted Mansion.”

Emily looks over her shoulder. “Is Haunted Mansion the only ride there? What’s the Hall of Presidents.”

“Hard pass,” Cynthia Rose and Beca say at the same time. They look at each other and burst out laughing. “ _He’s_ in there,” Cynthia Rose scowls.

“Not my President,” Chloe mutters.

“Can we just start walking, it’s hot as balls.” Beca’s sweating. Why they decided to go to Florida in the middle of summer, Beca will never understand.

Of course, she’s in jeans and v-neck. She should’ve worn a tank top and shorts like Emily and Stacie did, but hindsight is 20/20.

“We haven’t seen any characters,” Emily pouts as they walk.

“We saw Goofy,” Beca scowls.

“And let it go on the record that I didn’t go near him!”

Beca laughs. “It’s on the record. I’ll take a picture with whoever we see next.”

When they see Belle literally two minutes later and Emily drags them all over to take a picture, Beca just smiles for the camera.

//

“Where to next?”

“Frontierland,” comes Flo’s voice from behind the paper map.

“Thank God,” Chloe laughs. “That’s where Splash Mountain is.”

Beca side eyes her. “The only reason I’m agreeing to Splash Mountain is because I’m already wet with sweat.”

“Don’t be a party pooper, Bec.” Chloe laughs happily. “We’re at the happiest place on Earth.”

“There’s no way the happiest place on Earth would be anything other than an unmoving 72 degrees,” Beca gripes.

//

“Beca why are you frowning in the ride picture?”

“Because, Chloe, we’re going over a huge ass waterfall and I’m about to get soaked.”

“You’re literally so annoying. Whatever I’m buying this. Maybe I can convince them to move the Splash Mountain logo over your face.”

“You’re hilarious.”

//

Beca yawns, shifting on her feet. They’ve been waiting in line for the Pirates of Caribbean ride for forty minutes and her feet are starting to hurt. She’s exhausted. And sweaty. Is this the price you pay to be at the happiest place on Earth?

She feels something soft against her cheek and realizes she’s leaned over to rest her head against Emily’s shoulder. “Sorry,” she murmurs, standing up straight.

“It’s fine,” Emily smiles down at her. “Tired?”

“Yeah.”

“I think this is a mellow ride. We get to sit in a boat for like ten minutes. That’s what Chloe said.”

Beca nods. “Yeah.” She juts her chin toward the front of the line. “We’re almost there. See those boats?”

Sure enough, they board their boat five minutes later. They squish in one after the other, but there’s too many to sit in one row, so Beca and Emily, who are at the back of the group, get the pleasure of sitting in the row behind the others with a couple of strangers.

Beca doesn’t mind. Maybe she’ll use this ten minute ride to take a quick nap.

“Hey,” Emily murmurs to her as their boat glides forward. “Is this ride scary?”

“Scary?” Beca tries to remember. “I can’t really remember, but I don’t think so.”

“The movie is a little spooky. Davy Jones and whatever. He’s gross.”

Beca laughs. “I think it’s just dark and there’s special effects.”

As soon as she says that, an ominous voice says, “Dead men tell no tales…”

Emily side-eyes her as the image of Davy Jones gets projected on a waterfall ahead of them, saying something about a pirates curse ahead.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not scary,” Beca assures her. “But you can hold my hand if you want.”

She holds her hand out and Emily grabs it with a smile. “I think you’re right, but I’m gonna hold this anyway.”

“Go for it.”

“Ooh,” Emily whispers as they pass through the fake pirate battle. “Fire.”

“You sound like Lilly.”

Emily snorts and nudges her elbow into Beca’s side. “I’ll toss you overboard.”

“I will literally drag you down with me to Davy Jones’ locker.”

They enjoy the rest of the ride like that, Emily commenting on the special effects, Beca teasing her, the two of them holding hands on Emily’s lap.

When they finally have to get off the boat and Emily lets go of her, Beca’s hand feels strangely cold without the sweaty press of Emily’s palm against hers.

Weird.

//

“Em.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t pee your pants this time.”

“I was five! And you know what, I told you that in a moment of confidence, Beca.”

“I’m just saying if I’m riding this with you, you better not pee.”

“I’m gonna push you off the top of Space Mountain.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Like is it a mountain or is it in space?”

“Smile for the picture this time or you’re gonna find out.”

//

By 9, Beca’s dead on her feet, but Chloe drags them to the fireworks show. She stands in the huge crowd of people in front of Cinderella’s castle, impatiently waiting for the show to start. When the music finally booms on, the castle lighting up in a display, Beca’s lowkey impressed. They sure do go all out with these things. She leans to the left to get a better view.

Emily gives her arm a tug and shifts so Beca can stand in front of her where there’s a space in the crowd.

“There you go,” she says in Beca’s ear. Beca can feel Emily’s warmth at her back and her breath on her neck, comforting in this crowd of strangers. She leans back a little into Emily’s front.

“Thanks.”

“Mhmm.”

And Beca’s not really into this cheesy shit, or Disney movies, or huge crowds, but she can’t help the awe and wonder that takes over her while she watches. For twenty minutes, she lets herself be swept up in the spectacle, allows herself to marvel at the fireworks and effects.

When it’s over, the rest of her Bellas all talking excitedly as they make their way back to their cars, all of them laughing and radiating joy, _maybe_ Beca can get why they say Disney World is the happiest place on Earth.

//

Beca wakes to the smell of coffee and a soft touch to her shoulder. “Please, Bec. Wake up.”

“Hmm?”

“I made you this coffee. You slept through the alarms and we gotta meet the others.”

She opens her eyes, squinting up at Emily. “What time is it?”

“7:30. We’re leaving at 8.”

Beca groans, slumping back into her pillow.

“ _Please_ , Bec. Don’t make us late to Harry Potter. I made you coffee in the hotel pot. It’s probably crap, but it’s coffee, so…”

“Alright.” Beca sighs, saying goodbye to her sleep. She thought vacations were supposed to be restful. “But only because of the coffee.”

She sits up, taking the styrofoam cup from Emily’s hands. It’s then that she gets a look at Emily’s shirt, a faded yellow with a black logo on it, some kind of animal.

“What the fuck is a Hufflepuff?”

Emily laughs. “It’s one of the Hogwarts houses. I’m in Hufflepuff.”

“Oh. Huh. Which one am I in?”

Emily hums thoughtfully. “Well. A lot goes into it, to be honest. There’s this extensive test you can take on Pottermore. And the sorting hat considers your opinion of which one you want to be in, too. Which do you think you’re in?”

Beca shrugs. “What are they again?”

“Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.”

“Right, Gryffindor is like, the main one, right?”

Emily chuckles. “The main characters are in Gryffindor, yeah. They're like, brave and daring.”

“Eh. Okay. And uh, Ravenhead, you said? Those are the smart ones.”

“Ravenclaw.” Emily looks like she’s trying not to laugh and Beca grins a little. “Yeah, they’re the wise ones. They value learning.”

“Kay, pass. Fuck school.”

Emily snorts. “You don’t have to like school to like learning.”

Beca waves her off. “What else?”

“Hufflepuff. That’s what I am. That’s like for people who are loyal and patient and kind.”

“Right yes, you’re obviously that.”

Emily beams. “Mhmm. And then there’s Slytherin.”

“Oh is that the evil one? I’m probably that.”

“Oh my God, they’re not evil. Just most of the bad guys come from it because they’re like ambitious and clever.”

“Sounds like it’s probably me.”

Emily shakes her head in amusement. “You’re gonna go with it because you think it’s evil?”

“Mhmm.”

“Huh. Well. You should take the test.”

Beca pushes herself fully out of bed. “If only there were time, but I guess we’re late.”

“We really are. But if you hurry I’ll buy you a butterbeer.”

That gets Beca moving. “They have alcohol at this place? Sign me up.”

//

“What do you mean there’s no alcohol?”

Stacie rolls her eyes and hands Beca the cup. “Nobody said it had alcohol in it, Beca.”

“It literally has the word _beer_ in it.”

Chloe laughs. “It’s just for fun. Plus, it’s 10am.”

“Ugh.”

“Drink up, bitch,” Cynthia Rose claps her on the shoulder. “We’re gonna escape from Gringotts next.”

“What the hell is a Gringotts?”

//

When they finally sit on a train, Beca sighs in relief. So far they’ve only been to Diagon Alley, but Beca has had absolutely no idea what’s going on. It’s been cool, sure, but it’s all going a little over her head.

At least now they’re on the Hogwarts Express, which Beca actually knows. And she’s pretty sure it’s just a train.

Next to her Chloe gasps. “Ooh, look.”

“ _Dementors!”_

Beca stares at the shadow effect making creepy sounds at the door of their cabin. “What the hell is a dementor?”

//

Emily nudges Beca as they walk into Hogsmeade. “Thought you watched some of these movies, huh?”

Beca shrugs helplessly. “Yeah, I forgot to tell you I fell asleep during them.”

“Oh my God.”

//

Beca peers upward. “Em… did that picture _move_?”

“Mhmm. Look.” Emily points at another picture further down the wall. “They’re magic.” She pauses. “I mean, that’s a special effect obviously, but in the Harry Potter world they’re magic. The pictures move.”

“That’s cool.” Emily’s looking around in wonder at everything, her face the epitome of joy. Beca grins. “Are you having a good time?”

“I’m having the best time ever. This looks exactly like Hogwarts.” She crushes Beca to her in a hug. “I’m so glad we’re here.”

Another pair of arms circles around them. “Don’t hug without me!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Chloe.”

//

“Gryffindor,” Chloe says.

“Clearly Ravenclaw,” Stacie argues. “No contest.”

“Y’all wild,” CR interjects. “She’s obviously Slytherin.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “I’m right here, you know.”

“I’m gonna say Hufflepuff because I don’t want it to feel left out of this argument,” Emily says.

Flo laughs. “That’s the most Hufflepuff thing you’ve ever said, Em.”

“Yeah.”

“Are we done discussing what house I’m in yet?” Beca raises an eyebrow as they all look at her.

“No,” Stacie and Chloe say at the same time.

Flo gives her a smile. “Don’t you want a souvenir with your house?”

Beca shrugs. “Emily said the sorting thingy takes my choice into consideration. Which is nice considering it’s fictional and you guys are real and haven’t asked my opinion.”

“You literally have no idea what they are,” Stacie laughs.

“Yes I do. Em explained them to me this morning and I chose the evil one.”

They all look at Emily, who shrugs. “I tried to tell her it wasn’t just evil.”

“Cool, I win, then,” CR smirks. “Slytherin it is.”

“This is fake news,” Flo says. “She should take the Pottermore test.”

Beca wanders away as the argument starts back up. These things always get a little too intense for her.

//

“Hey,” Emily says to her as they’re walking out of the park.

“Hey back,” Beca yawns. She’s exhausted, but they have to drive down to Chloe’s beach house now. She’s gonna have to get some coffee.

“Can I see your keys?”

Beca’s too tired to care why. She hands them over. Emily fiddles with them for a minute before handing them back. Beca examines them, her mouth twisting thoughtfully as she looks at the new keychain dangling next to her Bellas keychain. It’s a green and silver tie.

“What’s this?”

Emily gives her a hesitant smile. “It’s Slytherin. I felt bad they were giving you a hard time, but I thought you might like a tiny souvenir anyway. If you don’t want it, that’s okay.”

Beca possessively holds the keychain to her chest. “No back off, it’s mine now.” She smiles at Emily’s little laugh. Then she dangles the keys in the air, yelling at the Bellas walking ahead of them. “It’s official, nerds. I have Slytherin merch so you can stop arguing!”

Stacie spins around, smirking at Beca as she walks backwards. “You know that means we’d be roommates, right? I’m in Slytherin, too.”

Beca frowns, turning to Emily. “Can Slytherins sleep in the Hufflepuff dorms?”

Emily just laughs and loops her arm over Beca’s shoulders. “If not, I’d sneak you in anytime.”

//

They get out of the city a ways and then stop to get gas and coffee.

Emily offers to drive down the rest of the way to Miami Beach and Beca’s exhausted enough to agree. She settles into the passenger seat, smiling to herself at how far back it’s been moved for Emily to fit. She keeps it that way. She feels like she has a mile of leg room.

“Here, give me your phone,” she says as they pull back onto I-75. Emily hands it over without comment and Beca grins. “You’re not even gonna ask why?”

Emily smiles over at her. “I trust you. And also I have nothing to hide.”

“I don’t believe that there’s not any embarrassingly cheesy selfies on here.”

“There definitely is, I just don’t care.”

“Of course you don’t.” Beca shakes her head with a smile. Then she connects Emily’s phone to the car’s bluetooth. “There, now you can play your music.”

Emily does a double take at her. “What? What happened to you not letting anyone else pick the music?”

Beca rolls her eyes. “The driver picks the music, that’s the rule. Those bitches never got to pick because they never got to drive my car when I’m in it. And to be honest, I trust you with the music way more than I trust any of them.”

Emily takes her phone back from Beca, hesitation clear on her face. “Are you sure?”

“I’m gonna nap anyway,” Beca shrugs. “Wake me when we’re gonna get off the interstate.”

“Okay…”

Beca settles back in the seat, a bunched up hoodie between her cheek and the window. A few seconds later, Emily’s music starts playing through the car speakers. Beca listens for a bit with her eyes closed, but she can’t fall asleep, especially when a song she’s never heard starts playing.

“What is this?”

“Uh. ‘Loving is Easy’ by Rex Orange County. Why, do you hate it?”

Beca shakes her head in amusement. “No, I like it. I’ve liked everything you’ve played so far.”

“Oh, okay.” Emily smiles over at her. “Thought you were gonna nap?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Emily pouts a little. “Want me to turn it down?”

“Nah.” Beca shifts so her back is against the door. “It’s nice to just kinda sit and listen to the music, anyway. That’s my favorite part of roadtrips.”

“Mine, too,” Emily says. They smile at each other before Emily looks back at the road.

Beca rests her left cheek against the seat, her back pressed into the crease between the seat and door. She curls up a little, enjoying the sunshine and the music and Emily’s relaxed posture behind the wheel.

She spends a few songs like that, just chilling and watching the scenery pass by, but her gaze keeps getting pulled back into the car to Emily.

As they drive, Beca’s thoughts are a swirl of thoughtful nothingness, a stream of consciousness that makes no impression on her whatsoever. She’s not actively thinking about anything in particular, but as she watches Emily drive, her soft voice barely audible over the music so as not to disturb Beca, one thought pierces through the fog.

Emily is like… hot.

When the thought breaks through, Beca immediately glances away, shifting in her seat, trying to force her attention back out the window. But now that she’s thought it, she can’t stop thinking it.

It’s not that Beca hasn’t noticed that Emily’s attractive. _All_ the Bellas are attractive. Beca’s definitely checked them all out at one time or another, and usually by request if it’s Stacie or Chloe.

Beca’s aware that the concentration of sheer hotness in the Bella house would be enough to bring any sane person to their knees. She can handle hotness. She’s used to hotness.

This, though. This is something different.

It’s in the way Emily’s holding the car steady, her wrists pressed to her thighs, her fingers clasped around the bottom of the wheel. There’s something confident and soft about it that stirs up a reaction in Beca.

As she watches, Emily releases the wheel for a moment, her hand coming up to brush the hair out of her face, and Beca follows the movement before snapping her attention away again. She feels guilty for staring, but it doesn’t matter because she still sees Emily behind her eyes, even when they’re not looking in Emily’s direction.

She sees Emily’s face from earlier, alive with unadulterated joy as she took in the magic of Hogwarts. She sees the easy curve of her shoulder, the defined line of her collar bones in the tank top she wore to Disney World. She sees Emily’s adorable blush anytime Beca teases her.

She sees Emily smiling at her over the campfire at the retreat, happy and soft.

Suddenly, that deja vu sensation from the diner washes over her again, and Beca’s hit with the startling realization that she’s not just attracted to Emily, but she’s like, legitimately _in_ to her.

She blinks rapidly, letting that settle, waiting for panic or embarrassment or dread or _something_ to creep up, but nothing does.

When Emily smiles over at her, finally feeling the weight of Beca’s eyes on her, Beca smiles back.

Because maybe, Beca thinks, maybe this is what Emily meant when she said they’re on the same channel. Maybe Emily feels it, too. Maybe Beca’s late to a realization that Emily’s already come to.

Maybe they really are on the same wavelength.

//

They get to the beach house just before nightfall.

Emily lets out a small “oh wow” when they pull up and she’s shut off the engine.

Beca chuckles, leaning forward to see the house in front of them better out of the windshield. “Didn’t you know Chloe’s parents are rich as hell?” Emily shakes her head, still looking at the house. “Yeah, her dad’s like a real estate mogul and her mom is a divorce lawyer for even richer people.”

“Wow,” Emily repeats.

“C’mon, let’s go inside and see what the deal is. I’m starving.”

Chloe gives them a tour before it gets completely dark. The two-story house has four bedrooms, a huge ass kitchen, and a nice living room. It’s on its own small private beach, complete with dock and a firepit surrounded by adirondack chairs.

“And the nice public beach is about a fifteen minute walk that way,” Chloe says, gesturing off into the distance. “But we don’t go there much. It’s too touristy.”

“Yeah, can’t mingle with the peasants,” Beca murmurs under her breath to Emily as they walk back inside. Emily coughs to cover her laugh, nudging Beca with her elbow.

They’re all exhausted from the past two days, so they eat sandwiches for dinner and head to bed early. Beca claims the first room she comes to, one with a view of the road and not of the beach, but she doesn’t really mind. She grabs her pajamas out of her duffle and pulls them on just as there’s a knock on the door.

“Yeah?”

Emily peeks her head in. “Uh. Hey.”

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Um.” Emily steps into the room, her duffle over her shoulder. “There’s only four beds and Cynthia Rose claimed the couch, so. Uh. Can I sleep in here with you? It’s that or the floor and like, I don’t mind the floor, really, but I figured we’ve already been sharing a bed so far on this trip so it couldn’t hurt to ask.” She pauses, giving Beca an insecure look as her eyes take in the full-sized bed in the room. “But um, yeah, that’s a bit small, so never mind. I can sleep on the floor.”

Beca grins, her hand reaching out to grab the strap of Emily’s bag before she leaves the room. “It’s fine. I’ve shared a twin-size with Chloe before and like, I’m pretty sure that tent at the retreat was supposed to fit five people, not ten. I think we can manage.”

“You sure?”

“Mhmm.”

Emily gives her a grateful smile and it makes warmth spread to Beca’s chest. When they’re finally in bed, the lights off and door closed, just the sound of their breathing between them, Beca’s heart beats just a little too quickly when Emily’s hand touches hers on accident.

This isn’t the king-sized bed of the nights before. Then, Beca hadn’t even been aware of Emily’s presence in the bed. The space between them had seemed to stretch, even when Beca had rolled over. Now, though, any shift of movement has them brushing against each other, a foot here, an elbow there.

Emily doesn’t seem to mind. She falls asleep in minutes, clearly exhausted, her fingers resting on Beca’s hip under the covers. Beca doesn’t know if she meant for that to happen or not, but in the silence, she can hear her own heart in her ears and Emily’s easy breathing as if to remind her just how close they are, just how quick Beca’s realization has changed things for her.

It’s not that she’s afraid. It’s not even that she’s worried Emily wouldn’t return her feelings and she’d be left embarrassed and disappointed.

It’s more that Emily might feel the same, and that anticipation swells in Beca’s chest until she’s squirming, tossing and turning to get comfortable. Her brain keeps trying to go down a path of fantasy that she’s not prepared to imagine past the warm feeling of Emily’s fingers on her hip, her breath on Beca’s neck.

It takes a bit for her to finally relax, but she’s eventually able to calm her racing heart. Finally exhaustion takes her and she drifts to sleep.

//

Beca wakes to the sound of rain against the windows. She’s alone in the bed and she squints at her phone to see the time.

10:43.

She groans, wishing she could sleep longer and knowing she probably slept later than everyone else already. Reluctantly, she gets up and starts her morning routine, brushing her teeth and getting dressed. Then she pads down the stairs to the sound of laughter.

“You already showed me that card, Stace!”

“Well, it’s not my fault you’re dumb, Chloe. Keep track of the ones you’ve asked for.”

“Ugh.”

Beca peers into the living room to see her friends sitting on the floor, circled around the coffee table, _CLUE_ spread out in front of them.

They look up as she approaches. “Well, look who decided to join the living,” Chloe teases.

Beca just grunts.

“Wanna play, Bec?” Flo asks, patting the spot between her and Emily around the table. “There’s space. We could start over.”

“No, I’ll just watch. You guys play, though.” She circles around the table and eases down in the open spot, bumping shoulders with Emily a little. “Sorry.”

Emily smiles at her. “You’re good.”

“Okay it’s my turn, bitches,” CR grins. She grabs the dice and gives them a roll, moving her blue pawn into the study. “Okay. Let’s see… Miss Scarlet, with the rope, in the study.”

Beca leans over to look at Emily’s cards, noting she has both the study and the rope.

“What color are you?” She asks lowly.

Emily looks at her. “Professor Plum. Purple.”

“Are you next?”

“Flo’s next, and I’m after Flo.”

“Oh, okay.”

Emily nudges her and hands Beca her cards. “Here. Show CR this one.” She indicates the study card. “Be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

But Emily’s already gotten up and is walking into the kitchen.

Beca sighs, sliding the card over to CR when it’s Emily’s turn. CR eyes her suspiciously. “What? Emily told me to show that to you.”

“Mhmm…” CR peers at her evidence paper. “Inchhhh….eresting. Okay, Flo your turn.”

Flo moves her pawn into the kitchen as Emily comes back, plopping next to Beca on the floor. “Trade.”

Beca gives her the cards and Emily hands her a mug of coffee, full and warm. Beca smiles gratefully. “It’s almost your turn, but I think CR knows who did it.”

Emily leans in closer so only Beca can hear. “She’s acted like that since the first round, she doesn’t know shit.”

Beca shakes with laughter, lowering her voice. “Okay.” She points to Emily’s nearly empty evidence card. “Chloe has the lead pipe in her hand by the way, and Stacie has the candlestick. I saw them when I came down.”

“Oh my God.” Emily gives her a mischievous smile. “Cheater,” she whispers.

Beca just grins.

“What are you two whispering about?” Stacie says, giving them a menacing look. She, CR, and Amy are very competitive, which is why Beca hates playing games with the Bellas. “Are you two cheating?”

“We’re not cheating,” Emily says innocently. “We’re just conspiring. Beca hasn’t even been here, how could we be cheating?”

“Yeah, how could we be cheating?” Beca takes a sip of her coffee to hide her smirk when Stacie narrows her eyes. “I just got here.”

Stacie seems to be placated by that, but when Emily wins ten minutes later and Stacie throws her pawn at Beca, Beca can’t help but laugh so hard she nearly chokes on her coffee.

//

It rains all day.

Chloe tells them that happens sometimes, that summer is the rainy season and it’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow, but that doesn’t stop Stacie and Flo from complaining about wasted vacation time.

Beca doesn’t mind really. She’s not really a beach person. She burns easily and doesn’t like when she gets all sandy. She’s happy to stay in and play the old Nintendo 64 that’s hooked up to the TV. She totally crushes CR in Mario Kart, Emily and Chloe screaming and throwing popcorn at the TV as they watch.

They daydrink and eat too many snacks. Beca’s so warm and tipsy by the evening when they all huddle into the living room to watch a movie that she doesn’t even care that it’s a rom-com.

She leans her back against the couch, in between Flo and Emily on the floor, and cuddles under a blanket as the intro starts.

She raises her eyebrows as two small children appear on the screen. “Are we watching this because this is like a southern beach movie?”

“Shh,” Stacie hushes her.

“Alright, geez.”

Behind her, Chloe’s whispering the words. “‘Why would you wanna marry me for anyhow? … So I can kiss ya anytime I want.’ Awwww. They’re too cute.”

“I know, right?” Stacie replies.

“How come Chloe can talk, but I can’t,” Beca murmurs under her breath, but Emily hears her and laughs.

“SHH!” Stacie says again.

Beca makes eye contact with Emily and they both shrug helplessly. Their friends are crazy.

She makes it about halfway into the movie before she gets bored, which is pretty good for her. The plot isn’t that bad and the characters are both kinda dicks, so Beca finds it a lot more interesting than most romcoms. Still, eventually her attention wavers and she finds herself shifting around on the floor, trying to get comfortable.

Emily’s hand pushes at her leg under the blanket, trying to steady her movements. Beca sighs, grabbing hold of Emily’s fingers instead and running her fingers over the knuckles, counting them out and just fiddling with her fingers. She squeezes them between her own, once, twice, three times, before she realizes what she’s doing.

She glances up to see Emily staring at her.

“Sorry,” she mouths, and tries to let go, but Emily keeps ahold of her. She smiles, a questioning and soft little thing, too pretty to handle. Beca’s brain goes blank. The soft glow of the TV on Emily’s face in the darkness, her thumb rubbing gently across the back of Beca’s hand, the way her eyes look into Beca’s, an understanding depth to them that Beca can’t quite handle. She warms from the inside out, noticing these details.

She returns Emily’s smile and gently shifts so they’re closer. Emily releases her hand when Beca leans into her side, but she keeps it on Beca’s lap under the blanket, just resting there, soft on Beca’s skin.

Beca tries to turn her attention back to the movie this time, she really does, but all she can feel is Emily’s thumb tracing patterns onto her thigh, and the quick pace of her own heartbeat in her ears.

//

Later, she lies in bed, breathing deeply and trying not to overthink. Emily’s brushing her teeth in the bathroom down the hall, but she’s going to come back any second and crawl into bed next to Beca, close enough that they’ll touch if either of them move.

Beca’s not worried, exactly. She finds it hard to believe Emily would be anything but kind if she didn’t reciprocate what Beca’s feeling. But Beca’s pretty sure they’re on the same page. She keeps flashing back to Emily’s pretty smile in the blue light of the TV, the recognition in her eyes, everything Beca feels mirrored back to her in one look.

She’s more just nervous, because she doesn’t know what will happen, where this will take them next, or if either of them are brave enough to close the gap between friends and whatever it is they feel.

She jitters, staring up at the ceiling and trying to keep it cool.

Finally, Emily comes back, stepping cautiously into the room, closing the door behind her and stowing her things away in her bag.

“Want me to turn the light off?”

“Yeah,” Beca murmurs, her voice not quite loud enough to be above a whisper.

Emily flips the light and plunges them into darkness, the only light the vague outline of the window behind the curtains. Then Emily’s climbing into bed and Beca’s holding her breath, her hands folded over her sternum like that will help her keep steady when Emily inevitably brushes her elbow.

“Sorry,” Emily says quietly, and Beca breathes again.

“It’s okay.”

They breathe into the quiet for a minute, Beca staring at the ceiling, her entire body tingly. Finally, Emily’s hand creeps over the bed sheets and grabs Beca’s, interlacing their fingers.

“Bec?” She whispers.

Beca rolls on her side, her hand still clasped with Emily’s. “Yeah?” Emily rolls over too so they’re facing each other, their heads on their separate pillows but still close.

Emily bites her lip, her eyes searching Beca’s face in the darkness. She tentatively reaches up with her other hand and lets it rest on Beca’s cheek, her thumb settling next to Beca’s lips.

“Umm.” She goes to say something else, but can’t, staring at Beca helplessly. She clears her throat. “I…”

“I know,” Beca says back, because she does. She exhales, her heart aflutter in her chest. “I feel it, too.”

She shifts to the edge of her pillow, her nose brushing Emily’s. She closes her eyes, her heart going haywire, and touches their lips together. Emily’s frozen and Beca pauses. Then Emily releases a shaky breath against Beca’s lips and presses them more firmly together.

It’s the softest kiss Beca’s ever had, so slow and questioning it’s almost excruciating, but she doesn’t dare speed up, can’t bring herself to even want to anyway. She revels in the deep contact of Emily’s lips against her own, one of Emily’s hands gripping Beca’s tightly, the other held frozen on Beca’s face.

Emily leans back, the barest amount, pulling a breath quickly into her lungs. Beca chases her lips, missing their warmth, and when they kiss again, Emily comes alive. She pulls Beca tightly to her by the hand on her cheek, rolling slightly to get a better angle. Their fingers unwind and Emily circles around her waist instead. Beca feels Emily’s wrist on her hip, the same way she holds the steering wheel that Beca found so attractive, and her heart skips a beat. She slides her feet between Emily’s calves, pressing her toes to warm skin.

Beca stops worrying, stops thinking. Feelings are weird, but kissing she can do, and her body fits with Emily’s in ways Beca hadn’t considered before this moment. She slides her tongue into Emily’s mouth, teasing and gentle, loving the way Emily’s breath stutters in her throat. In retaliation, Emily presses closer so they’re chest to chest, stomach to stomach. Beca lets her hand settle on the back of Emily’s neck and in her hair.

There’s an urge in Beca to go faster, to move further, and she knows if they started, they wouldn’t stop. She can feel it in the tightness of Emily’s legs around her foot, in the soft dragging of her nails over Beca’s lower back.

There’s a wanting in them that’s just been cracked open, and Beca knows it would overtake them if they let it.

Something stops them, though. Beca doesn’t know exactly what, she just knows it doesn’t look like fear, or insecurity, or nervousness. It’s something gentle, like understanding, and they both feel it settling over them in the darkness.

So they exchange lazy, soft kisses until their muscles relax and they get too tired to continue.

Beca’s pretty sure she’s the one to fade first, and she falls asleep half on-top of Emily with her nose pressed behind Emily’s ear and Emily’s arms loosely circled around her waist.

//

Beca knows she’s alone before she opens her eyes. She doesn’t feel Emily’s weight in the bed, her warmth underneath the covers.

She blinks herself into consciousness, her mouth dry, lips chapped. Groaning, she rolls over for her phone, squinting at the time and the text preview from Emily. She unlocks her phone and it pops up on her screen.

**Legacy:** Sorry to leave you like that... I didn’t want to but I had to pee and then Stacie saw me and dragged me downstairs. Come down when you wake up **(Sparkling Heart )** There’s coffee **(Hot Beverage )** **(Dancer )**

****

Beca laughs to herself and pushes out of bed. The house is quiet as she goes about her routine, and when she finally heads downstairs, she doesn’t find anyone in the living room. She goes into the kitchen, but that’s empty, too.

****

There _is_ a pot of coffee on, though, and a mug is already set out for her, next to a note that reads _beca - went to the beach, come outside!_ in Emily’s familiar handwriting.

****

Beca huffs, turning right back around upstairs to put on her swimsuit. She returns downstairs, pours herself the coffee, and finally heads outside.

****

Emily is the first one she sees, maybe because Emily’s on her mind or maybe because everyone else is facing away from her except for Emily, who's fluffing out a towel and spreading it out on the beach. Cynthia Rose and Flo are playing badminton back and forth (where they got the equipment, Beca has no idea) and Stacie and Chloe are lounging back on their own towels, their faces turned toward the sun.

****

As Beca walks up, they all turn to stare at her, but Beca can only see Emily, the easy smile that immediately breaks across her face when Beca’s in sight.

****

“Morning,” they all say.

****

“Morning,” Beca replies.

****

Emily reaches out and squeezes her arm. “Morning,” she murmurs, this light giddy thing that hits Beca in the chest.

****

“Morning,” Beca repeats, her voice going soft. She clears her throat. “Uh. Rain cleared up.”

****

“Mhmm. Put sunscreen on,” Chloe commands. “I’m not rubbing aloe all over you again.”

****

Beca rolls her eyes. “I never asked you to do that, though.”

****

“I’m just looking out for your well-being.”

****

“Right.”

****

She meets Emily’s eyes again and can’t help but think about the night before. She feels her cheeks heat up, the morning sun not doing anything to help.

****

Emily scrunches her nose cutely, giving her a smile that says a million things to Beca.

****

It says _don’t worry, we’re all good._

****

It says _I’m really happy._

****

It says _we should talk, but not in front of the Bellas, lets just let it be for right now._

****

So Beca grabs the towel Emily’s offering her, lathers sunscreen on her skin, lies back against the sand, and soaks up the sun.

****

//

****

She offers to make sandwiches for everyone a few hours later so she can get a short break from the sun and heat. Cynthia Rose comes to help her in the kitchen, Beca pulling a loaf of bread out of their food supply and CR piling an insane amount of deli meat and cheese onto the counter.

****

“Did Chloe say turkey?”

****

“Ham,” CR corrects and tosses her a package of cheese. “With provolone.”

****

“Thanks.”

****

They move in well-practiced motions, the two of them having done this a million times for the Bellas over the years. The familiarity in the action puts Beca at ease and she hums while she makes Chloe’s sandwich, some song she remembers Emily playing in the car the other day.

****

“So,” CR says after a minute, breaking Beca’s spell. “You and Legs, huh?”

****

Beca freezes, her eyes snapping up. “Uh...”

****

“Yeah, I have eyes,” CR teases. “And amazing gaydar. And you’re not exactly subtle, Miss Stares A Lot.”

****

“I don’t stare _that much_.”

****

“Don’t front.” CR sticks her tongue out a little. “So you like her, or what?”

****

Beca’s body flushes warm. “I mean. She’s cool. And like, she’s _weird_ , but. Cool. You know.”

****

CR laughs. “I wasn’t judging. Was just seeing if you’re good.”

****

“Oh. Yeah.” Beca goes back to making the sandwich, her brain whirling. “I’m good. We’ve only kissed, like, once. Sorta.”

****

“Just once?”

****

“Last night…”

****

CR pauses, giving Beca a questioning look. “Oh shit, I thought you guys were like a solid thing. Sorry, man, I didn’t realize it was that new, I don’t wanna like, stick my nose in it.”

****

“No, it’s okay. I think it’s been like, coming on for awhile, but…” Beca shrugs. “We’re a little slow on the uptake. Especially me.”

****

CR hums in understanding. “Well, have you talked about it?”

****

“No, not yet. Like I said, it just happened. Hand me that turkey.”

****

CR tosses her the pack of turkey. “Well are you _gonna_ talk about it?”

****

“Probably?”

****

“Girl.” CR gives an amused sigh. “You always do this. You need to not keep shit inside.”

****

Beca frowns. “I mean, I’m not _avoiding_ it.”

****

“Still. Don’t let it get confusing and ambiguous when it doesn’t have to be.” CR points the knife she was using to spread mayonnaise on Flo’s sandwich at her. “That girl is crazy about you, it’s obvious. Y’all need to make sure you want the same things and are on the same page.”

****

“I know, I will.” Beca bags Chloe’s sandwich, moving on to her own. “To be honest, I think we are, though. It just feels like we, I dunno… like, get each other?”

****

CR shoots her a teasing smile. “Aww.”

****

“Ugh, stop.”

****

“Pass me that provolone,” Cynthia Rose laughs. “I’m just saying you should probably figure things out before those other bitches realize. They’re not as perceptive as me but also not as chill and you know they’re gonna freak.”

****

“I know. It’s chill, we will soon.”

****

CR grins over at her. They work in a silence for a minute, finishing the sandwiches and bagging them to take outside.

****

As they walk back toward the beach, their friends all spread out on their towels, Beca’s eyes immediately go to Emily, taking in her long legs, her soft skin in her bikini.

****

CR nudges her, a laugh bubbling out of her throat. “Staring.” Beca feels a pleasant kind of embarrassment flush through her and she nudges CR back.

****

“Shut the fuck up.”

****

//

****

It’s late afternoon before Beca works up the courage to test the water. Even then, she barely does, sitting herself on the dock and dipping her toes in. It’s not cold, but it’s not warm either, and Beca huffs.

****

She leans back on her hands, turning her face to the sun, and lets her legs drape down toward the water. Her toes barely skim the surface. She sits like that for awhile, just enjoying the sun and thinking.

****

Thinking about what CR said, her feelings, Emily, the past two days. There’s a lot to process, a lot Beca wants to say, but she can’t think her feelings into any kind of concrete phrasing. That was always her problem in the past, especially with Jesse. He wanted her to always check in, to make sure they were good and have her tell him when she felt a certain way.

****

It’s not that Beca didn’t want to do that. It was just that her feelings didn’t work like that and he never seemed to get it, so she was always toeing the line between confused at what she felt and afraid he’d get mad that she couldn’t vocalize it.

****

She hears the soft creak of footsteps behind her and then a shadow passes over her as Emily steps into the sun. “Hey.”

****

“Hey.”

****

“Can I sit with you?”

****

“Mhmm.”

****

Emily eases down next to her and the hot rays of the sun return. Beca lolls her head to look in Emily’s direction. Her cheeks glow the faint pink of a mild sunburn, her nose freckly, her hair tied up high off her neck. She’s too pretty, and Beca feels her stomach stir pleasantly when Emily smiles at her.

****

“What are you thinking about?”

****

Beca shrugs. “Nothing and everything, I guess.”

****

“Mmm. Did you go in the water?”

****

“No,” Beca laughs. “It’s cold. Did you?”

****

“Earlier, a little bit.” Emily looks out at the waves. “It’s nice to just sit in the sun.”

****

Beca nods in agreement. “Yeah. I hope I’m not getting burned.”

****

Emily pouts at her. “Your shoulders look a little pink, but not too bad.”

****

“I just put on more sunscreen.”

****

“Okay, that’s good.” Emily gives her this soft smile that makes Beca’s heart flip. “How are you otherwise?”

****

“I’m good.” She hesitates, blowing a bit of hair out of her face. “How are you? How are… we?”

****

Emily hums, grabbing Beca’s hand on top of the dock and squeezing. “I’m good if you’re good.” She shifts, letting one leg hang over the dock and bringing her other knee up to her chest. She rests her cheek on it and just looks at Beca, deep and thoughtful. “Can I tell you something?”

****

“Mhmm.”

****

Emily blinks, exhaling out a long breath. “I’ve thought about kissing you for a long time,” she says quietly.

****

Beca can’t help the shocked laugh that comes out of her mouth. “Wait, really?”

****

“Yeah,” Emily chuckles, scrunching her nose cutely. “Why is that surprising?”

****

“I dunno,” Beca says. “It just seems like… I dunno. Like you’ve got your stuff together and I’m just a hot mess.”

****

“Well you’re a cute hot mess,” Emily teases. “Noooo, I guess like. When we were in the studio that time at your work, there was this second where you looked at me in this certain way and I like, wanted to kiss you _so_ bad.”

****

Beca thinks back, frowning. “I wasn’t with Jesse then. We broke up before that.”

****

“No, I know.”  Emily shrugs a little. “But I thought you might need time and space. And to be honest, I don’t know if I would’ve been brave enough, and I’m awkward, and sometimes I can come on too strong and just, I didn’t know if you felt the same.”

****

“I think I did,” Beca says slowly. “I just didn’t know I did… If that makes any sense.”

****

“Yeah,” Emily laughs. “It does.” She bites her lip, smiling cutely, and Beca stares, wanting to kiss her again. Emily shifts under her gaze like she knows what Beca’s thinking. “Stop looking at me like that.”

****

Beca smirks, feeling playful. “Why should I?”

****

“Because you’re making me all warm and it’s already too hot.”

****

Beca gestures in front of her. “Water’s right there.”

****

Emily raises her eyebrows. “You’re absolutely right.” She stands up and, before Beca can say anything, cannonballs off the dock. Beca squeaks as drops of water splash on her bare skin.

****

She leans over the edge of the dock to peer down just in time to see Emily resurface from underwater. “You little shit,” she calls down.

****

Emily laughs and grabs Beca’s ankle. “Come in.”

****

Beca goes to say no, but then she hesitates. “Is it cold?”

****

“A little, but I’ll keep you warm.”

****

Beca snorts, kicking her leg out a little, but Emily’s got a firm grip on her ankle. “Cheese.” She peers down skeptically, taking in Emily’s half-hopeful, half-teasing expression.

****

Rolling her eyes at herself, she sighs, and pushes herself off the edge of the dock. She splashes into the water, holding her nose and mouth shut to avoid the salt water taste.

****

When she comes back up for air, Emily’s right there grinning at her, her hands skimming over the surface of the water easily, the water up to her neck.

****

“Are you standing?” Beca asks, noticing Emily’s not treading water. “Is it deep?”

****

“Yeah, it’s not too deep.”

****

Beca hums, trying to touch the bottom. Her toes barely scrape the sand and she knows her face would be underwater if she tried to stand flat. She pouts. “I’m too short, that’s not fair.”

****

Emily laughs, stepping closer to the dock. “Here,” she says, reaching for Beca. Beca swims the few feet over and Emily takes her hands and rests them on her shoulders. Then she grabs the edge of the dock with her fingers. “Now you can use me so you don’t have to tread water.”

****

Their faces are just inches apart like this and Beca quirks an eyebrow. “Was this an elaborate plot to get me closer?”

****

“Noooo,” Emily chuckles. “But it’s not a bad side effect.”

****

Beca feels her lips pulling upward and she looks away, feeling warm under Emily’s attention, so close like this. She shivers a little, goosebumps rising all over her skin. Emily’s nose presses into her cheek.

****

“You smell good,” Emily murmurs lightly.

****

“Like salt water?”

****

“Like coconutty sunscreen.” Beca hums, tightening her grip on Emily’s wet shoulders. Their legs brush under the water, Emily’s steady, Beca’s treading gently. Emily uses the hand not gripping the dock to move Beca’s wet hair from her neck. “Mm. You look pretty like this.”

****

Beca glances back, meeting Emily’s eyes. They’re happy and playful and deep. Beca’s breath gets caught in her throat. “So do you.”

****

“You think those guys are gonna notice we’re not with them?”

****

“Probably.” Beca leans forward, her nose brushing Emily’s, her eyes closing automatically. “But honestly, I don’t really care.”

****

She can feel Emily’s quiet laugh against her lips, sweet like honey, and she closes the gap between them. Emily hums into her mouth, her hand slipping underwater to hold Beca around the waist.

****

It’s not the questioning kissing of the night before. Emily nips at her lips gently, playful and light. Beca’s hands drift to Emily’s neck, letting Emily support her weight in the water. Despite the goosebumps on her arms, heat flushes through her core, sharp and wanting.

****

She exhales heavily, pulling Emily closer, feeling Emily smiling into her skin. As Beca deepens the kiss, Emily wraps her arm tighter around Beca’s waist, her fingers getting a stronger grip on the dock as Beca leans into her more. The water laps around them, gentle waves against their skin, and Beca feels dizzy -- dizzy with wanting, with heat, with tenderness.

****

Beca doesn’t know how long they makeout in the water, loses track of time completely, would be content to kiss like this forever, but then Emily pulls back suddenly, her face turning upward. Beca frowns, but then she hears it -- the quick thump of feet on the dock.

****

She lets go of Emily and drifts back a few feet just as a body flies overhead and bombs into the water.

****

Beca coughs as water splashes over her in a tidal wave. “Chloe!”

****

Then the rest of the group is jumping in, except Flo, who does a graceful backflip off the edge. Beca splashes water in Chloe’s face as she resurfaces, but Chloe spits it out, apparently impervious to saltwater. She grins in Beca’s direction and Beca scowls.

****

“Couldn’t miss the rare chance of you being in the water Bec.” Chloe winks playfully. “Honestly was starting to doubt you’d even get it in at all.”

****

“Bite me,” Beca gripes as the rest of the Bellas’ heads pop back up.

****

Stacie resurfaces with Flo on her shoulders. “Let’s play chicken. Bec, get on Legacy’s shoulders, she can reach.”

****

Beca huffs as Emily laughs, dragging Beca close to her again. “This is a bad idea,” she tells Stacie.

****

“Don’t be a downer.”

****

“Whatever.” She turns to Emily and they exchange a silent eye roll about being interrupted. Beca sighs. “You good with this?”

****

“Sure,” Emily says. “I think we can take them.”

****

Flo gasps from atop Stacie’s shoulders. “If you’re gonna talk shit then come back it up. Where’s your honor?”

****

“I left it with my dignity back in 2011,” Beca deadpans, her eyes still on Emily’s.

****

“Ha ha,” Stacie teases. “Scared you’ll lose?”

****

“Oh please,” Beca shoots back, unable to resist those words. Stacie knows it and smirks.

****

Emily plugs her nose and bends down under the water, pulling Beca on top of her shoulders. Beca shifts as Emily stands up again, her arms wrapped around Beca’s legs as Beca rises into the air a few feet.

****

“Don’t tip over,” Beca tells her as they approach Stacie and Flo. “Also Stacie’s ticklish in her side.”

****

Emily laughs, squeezing Beca’s calves once. “You’re such a cheater.”

****

“It’s strategy, babe. That’s all.”

****

“Uh huh.”

****

“C’mon, Legacy,” Stacie grins. “No way you can take all this.”

****

Cynthia Rose sighs a few feet away where she and Chloe are floating on their backs. “This is gonna end so bad.”

****

“Ten bucks on Flacie,” Chloe says.

****

“Girl, no way. You’re on.”

****

When Beca pushes Flo into the water five minutes later to cheers and groans, she looks down to see Stacie squirming away from Emily’s tickling fingers before tripping under the water.

****

“Cheater,” she murmurs as Stacie and Flo pop back up, laughing and pushing at each other.

****

Emily looks up, her face upside down and smile much too innocent. “It’s strategy, babe. That’s all.”

****

Beca might be in love.

****

//

****

The rain stays away, so they have a fire that night out on the beach. Beca feels sentimental as she stares into the flickering flames. It’s the last night of the trip and the fire’s bringing back memories of the retreat and their final days before graduation.

****

It occurs to her while she’s sitting there, listening to the idle chit-chat happening around her, that she’s been living in a bubble this past week. She hasn’t had responsibilities or expectations on her shoulders, no work or stress or pressure.

****

She’s just felt happy, spending time with her friends, getting close to Emily. Things are going to be different when they go back. It won’t be all relaxation and goofy Bella time. They both have commitments, Beca with her new job, Emily with school and Bellas.

****

Beca knows CR was right. They need to talk about things. Beca thinks she knows what she wants, but maybe it’s not that simple.

****

She sighs to herself, looking across the fire at Emily. She’s laughing at something Stacie said, her fingers curled around a poker with a marshmallow on the tip. As Beca watches, she turns toward the fire, delicately extending her arm so the marshmallow hovers over the heat of the flame. Fondness seeps through Beca’s chest, this soft, wondrous feeling that makes her heart flip over.

****

Emily glances up, maybe feeling Beca’s eyes on her. She smiles, a soft little quirk of her lips, and Beca’s heart flutters weakly. She feels anticipation inflating in the space around her. It makes her squirm in her chair, makes excitement quicken in her bloodstream.

****

Emily gets up and moves around the fire, grabbing chocolate and a graham cracker from Chloe on her way. She perches on the thick armrest of Beca’s chair.

****

“Hold this,” she requests, handing Beca the cracker and the chocolate bar. Beca takes them. She breaks the cracker in half as Emily puts her marshmallow closer to the fire again. She pulls it back out after a minute and holds it up to her face, examining it. “Perfect.”

****

Beca places a chocolate square on one half of the graham cracker and holds it out so Emily can put the marshmallow on top. Emily uses a finger to push it off the poker. Beca watches it innocently disappear into her mouth, sucking off the sticky residue. Her stomach flips several times over. She looks away, distracting herself by putting the other half of the cracker on top of the marshmallow and squishing it down. She goes to hand it back, but Emily shakes her head with a smile.

****

“For you,” she says. “I had one already.”

****

“Let’s share it.” Beca’s stomach feels a little too unstable to eat the whole thing. She takes a bite and hands the rest to Emily.

****

Emily eats the other half, still sitting on Beca’s armrest. Beca rests her head against Emily’s arm, listening to Cynthia Rose talk about her plans for her wedding. She contributes here and there, but it’s nice to just sit and listen, feeling comfortable and at peace among her friends, the sound of the waves crashing in the background until Chloe puts out the fire and they head back to the house for the night.

****

//

****

She’s packing up her bag, making sure she’s got everything for tomorrow, when Emily comes back from brushing her teeth. She shuts the door behind her, giving Beca an uncertain look.

****

“Um. Do you… want me to lock this?”

****

The question weighs heavy on Beca, implications thick in the air. “Uh. Okay.”

****

She turns back to her stuff and shoves her bag back into the corner for the next day. When she stands up and turns around, she spins right into Emily trying to get around the bed.

****

“Oh, sorry.”

****

“No, my bad.”

****

“It’s fine.”

****

“Okay. I’ll just.”

****

“Yeah, okay.”

****

They blink at each other, awkwardly trying to move, until Beca lets out a quiet laugh. “We need to chill.”

****

“Sorry.” Emily offers a nervous smile. “I feel a little jittery.”

****

Beca understands. Anticipation has been slowly warping around her for the past day. She doesn’t know what to do with the feeling.

****

“Are you okay?” She asks instead.

****

Emily nods. “Yeah, it’s not like, a bad feeling. It’s just…” She shrugs helplessly.

****

Beca gives her the softest smile she can manage, reaching up to rest her hand against Emily’s neck. Her skin is warm where Beca’s feels cold.

****

“There’s no… expectation or anything,” Beca says quietly. “We can go to bed. We can talk. We don’t have to… to kiss or… or like, do anything.”

****

“I know,” Emily says, her eyes fluttering closed for the quickest of seconds as she takes a deep breath. When she opens them again, they’re a deep and determined brown. “I just really want to,” she exhales out in a rush. Her cheeks turn bright pink, but she’s looking at Beca head on, waiting for Beca to respond.

****

“Oh.”

****

“If _you_ want to,” Emily’s quick to add and Beca nods. “Otherwise, obviously, I’m totally good for whatever.”

****

Beca laughs, her forehead falling against Emily’s shoulder. Emily’s arms wrap around her waist. “Anyone ever tell you you’re like, really damn cute?”

****

“A few times,” Emily admits.

****

“Mmm.” Beca looks back up. “They ever tell you you’re kinda hot when you’re being forward?”

****

Emily’s mouth falls open and she makes an incomprehensible noise in her throat. “No?”

****

“Oh. Well they should.”

****

“Thank you?”

****

“You’re welcome.” She rises on her tiptoes to give Emily a peck on the lips. Emily sighs, holding Beca close. “Do you still feel jittery?”

****

Emily hums, her nose pressed to Beca’s hairline. “Yeah. I don’t think that’s gonna go away, to be honest.”

****

“Mm. Okay, sit down.” Emily pouts when Beca pulls away, and Beca laughs. “I’m coming, too, just one sec.”

****

Emily sits on the edge of the bed, leaning back on her hands. Beca moves around to turn on the lamp on the side table. Then she flicks the light switch off so it’s not as bright. The room’s lit by the weak glow of the old lamp, everything shadowy and soft.

****

Beca stands in front of Emily, nerves rising in her stomach. When she reaches up to brush Emily’s hair from her face, her hand trembles a little. “I’m jittery now, too,” she chuckles. She exhales quickly, trying to shake herself out of it, but she thinks Emily’s right. The jitters are there to stay.

****

Slowly, she crawls in Emily’s lap. Emily sits up straight, her arms looping around Beca’s back. Beca takes her face in her hands, her fingers hooking behind Emily’s neck, and tilts her face up so they’re closer.

****

“Can I ask you something?”

****

“Yeah,” Emily murmurs, her eyes locked on Beca’s.

****

“Have you ever had sex?”

****

Emily blinks, maybe not expecting that. “Oh. Um, yeah. Once. Last summer.”

****

“Did you like it?”

****

Emily hums thoughtfully. “Yes. But also no. It was weird. It was all very mechanical.”

****

Beca chuckles. “Was it with a boy or a girl?”

****

“Boy.” Emily crinkles her nose. “He was nice. We were kinda dating, I think, but we both knew it wasn’t going to last into college.” She slides her hands under Beca’s shirt, resting on her lower back. “You had sex with Jesse, right?”

****

 “Yeah.”

****

Emily nods like she already figured that. “Have you… ever had sex with a girl?”

****

“Once. When I was in high school.”

****

“Oh.”

****

“It’s been awhile.” Beca rubs her thumb along Emily’s cheek. “Let’s go slow. I know you said you want to, and I want to, but if we feel like we need to stop, we’ll just say so, okay?”

****

Emily nods again. “Yeah.” She bites her lip, giving Beca a questioning look. “Does it matter that I haven’t had sex with a girl?”

****

“No.” Beca smiles a little. “Just was feeling jittery too and I thought it might help to just… get some shit out there.”

****

“Oh. Did it help?”

****

Beca shakes her head. “No, I’m tingly as shit.”

****

Emily laughs. “Okay, me too. But like, a good kind of tingly.”

****

Beca relaxes at that, her body softening as Emily smiles. Emily’s so cute, so freaking _pretty_ , smiling at Beca in that way. Beca doesn’t want to wait to kiss her anymore.

****

So she doesn’t.

****

Emily hums into her mouth, warm and happy, pulling Beca to her tighter, and the jitters vanish. Then it’s just her and Emily, kissing in this half-lit room. She sighs, her fingers playing with the baby hairs at the back of Emily’s neck.

****

It’s not long before warmth starts to pool between Beca’s legs, before Emily starts shifting underneath her. She slips her tongue into Emily’s mouth for the briefest second, teasing, before disconnecting their lips. She runs her nose across Emily’s cheek, behind her ear, loving the goosebumps that erupt on Emily’s skin. Emily shivers when Beca starts kissing down her neck.

****

“Bec,” she murmurs, squeezing Beca tighter. Then she lies backward, pulling Beca with her, sliding up so they fit all the way on the bed. Emily’s hands wrap around her neck, tugging her closer. She kisses Emily’s chin, pressing her hands on either side of Emily’s head, then reconnects their lips.

****

Emily’s hands wander from her neck, first down her shoulders. They slide under Beca’s shirt and up her back, warm and curious. Beca hums into Emily’s mouth, want spreading through her body.

****

God, she wants so much.

****

She wants Emily to kiss her harder, wants Emily to touch her. She wants to feel their skin together, hot and slick. She wants to make Emily feel good, see Emily open up with too much feeling.

****

She wants to fall asleep after, tangled in each other, wants to wake and see Emily smile, wants this night, this trip, this moment to last forever.

****

But she’s getting ahead of herself.

****

She sits up, dragging Emily with her. She tugs at Emily’s shirt and slides her own over her head. Beca’s wearing a bra, but Emily’s not, and Beca takes a second to appreciate her, her soft skin, the swell of her boobs, the smooth expanse of her stomach.

****

She reaches around and unhooks her own bra, tossing it with her shirt.

****

They stare at each other for a moment, Beca warming under Emily’s awed gaze.

****

“You’re beautiful, Beca.”

****

Beca looks away and then back again, unsure what to do with the attention. “Do you… wanna keep going?”

****

Emily nods. “Do you?”

****

“Yeah.”

****

Emily grins, leaning in to kiss her again. Then she pushes her slightly so she lies back on the bed. She leans over, pulling at Beca’s sleep shorts. Beca kicks them off and Emily’s follow, and then Emily’s hovering over her, their bodies inches apart.

****

When their skin finally touches, Beca exhales hotly, shivering. Emily’s soft, so soft, so much softer than anything Beca could imagine. She grabs Emily by the neck, pulling their bodies flush together. Emily whimpers when Beca’s fingers gently scratch down her back.

****

“You feel really good,” Emily murmurs, her breath hot in Beca’s mouth.

****

“We’re not even at the best part.”

****

Emily giggles. “Well touch me then.”

****

Beca’s brain goes blank. She blinks, arousal swimming in her stomach. “Say that again.”

****

Emily pauses, then -- “Touch me. Please.”

****

Beca lets go of Emily’s neck, working her hand between them. Emily lifts her body to give Beca more room. Her own wetness feels slick between her legs, but when she finally touches Emily, teasing between her folds, her heart nearly drops into her stomach.

****

Emily’s breath hitches as Beca’s fingers slide through her, slow and gentle. She shifts on top of Beca, widening her legs, trying to find more friction, but Beca’s arm is too short. She could almost laugh.

****

“Flip over,” she says, and she scoots out so Emily can lie back. Then she hovers over Emily, pressing their bodies back together, her fingers pressing more firmly now.

****

Emily bites her lower lip, her fingers clenching around Beca’s biceps. Her eyes are locked on Beca’s, but when Beca slips inside her, first one finger, then two, they snap shut. She exhales shakily, her knees bending and feet pressing flat on the bed.

****

“Faster or slower?” Beca says, unable to take her eyes off Emily’s face.

****

Emily’s mouth twists, thinking. “Faster,” she rasps at last. “Just a little.”

****

It only takes another minute, but then Emily’s legs are clenching around Beca’s wrist, her chest heaving with every breath. She lets out the tiniest murmur of relief when she comes, this deep, breathy thing that drives Beca crazy.

****

Beca gently slips out of her, still hovering above her. She bumps their noses together as Emily’s breathing slows.

****

“Okay?”

****

“Mhmm.”

****

Emily’s grip on her arms relaxes, and she drags her fingers across Beca’s shoulders, into her hair. Finally, she opens her eyes and gives Beca a lazy smile.

****

Beca smiles back, pressing a kiss to Emily’s lips. Emily holds her there and they exchange soft kisses back and forth until they start to turn heated and quick again. Beca’s abdomen tightens and she squirms, kissing Emily deeper.

****

Emily shifts, and then she’s rolling Beca over, landing on her elbows above Beca in the half-light, her knee between Beca’s legs. Beca tilts her neck as Emily kisses down, sloppy and wet, her fingers drifting lower. Beca wiggles, wanting contact but loving the anticipation when Emily strokes over her thighs then back up to her stomach.

****

“Tease.”

****

Emily laughs against her chest as she kisses down it and the sound fills Beca with happy warmth. It turns to a more pointed heat when Emily finally touches her, just as her lips kiss over her stomach.

****

“Oh,” Beca says, inhaling sharply. Her heart kicks into high gear as Emily goes lower, her lips grazing Beca’s thighs. “Em, okay. Wait. Just. Wait.”

****

Emily pauses, crawling the little ways back up to Beca. “What? What’s wrong? Do you want me to stop?”

****

“No,” Beca breathes out through a disbelieving laugh. “ _God_ , no.”

****

Emily pouts in confusion. “What is it?”

****

“Just. You don’t have to do that.”

****

“Oh.” Emily’s pout gives way to a tiny smile, gleeful and mischievous. Beca can’t breathe. “I know, but… I want to.”

****

Beca holds back her groan. It comes out as raspy breath instead. “Okay. Yeah. Okay. But… if you don’t, that’s okay. You can stop.”

****

“Okay,” Emily murmurs. She gives Beca a kiss on the lips before moving back down Beca’s body. “Just tell me how you like it?”

****

That, Beca thinks, is going to be impossible, because as soon as Emily’s tongue slips through her, all semblance of coherent speech leaves her.

****

//

****

Emily’s body heat is the first thing she notices when she drifts back to consciousness. It surrounds her, touching every part of her body. Beca’s spread out on Emily’s chest, her nose nestled in the crook of Emily’s neck. One of Emily’s arms wraps around Beca’s back, the other rests on her own stomach.

****

Beca can’t remember if they fell asleep like this. She thinks they were front to back, Emily’s arm draped over her middle, Beca turned the other direction. She really only remembers turning off the lamp and slumping back into her pillow, exhausted but happy. Emily’s lips tracing soft patterns against the back of her neck as she drifted off to sleep. The perfect minutes after they’d had sex where they just breathed together into the quiet, Beca playing with the ends of Emily’s hair, Emily holding her close.

****

Beca smiles now remembering it. Her fingers drift over the soft curve of Emily’s shoulder, down to her wrist, and back up again. She tries to extend her back, stretching quietly, but Emily stirs under her movements.

****

“Beca?” She squints in the morning light, voice raspy from sleep.

****

“Mhmm.”

****

“Mm.” Emily’s arm tightens around her back. “Is it morning already?”

****

Beca smiles into Emily’s neck. “Yeah.”

****

Emily grunts. “What time? Do we have to go soon?”

****

Beca frowns. She almost forgot they were driving back to Atlanta today. She rolls over and grabs her phone. “9:15. I think we should still leave around 11. It’s like a nine hour drive.”

****

“Ugh.”

****

Beca grins, turning back. “Wow, you’re kinda pouty in the morning.”

****

As if to prove her point, Emily frowns cutely and shuts her eyes again. “It’s vacation, I can sleep in if I want to.”

****

“No you can’t.” Emily lightly pushes at her and Beca laughs. “Come on, let’s get breakfast. I’m starving.”

****

“Meh.”

****

“Please?”

****

Emily opens her eyes. “That’s not fair. You never say please.”

****

“Well I don’t want to go down there without you.”

****

Emily’s lips quirk upward in a smile. “Aw.”

****

Beca rolls her eyes. “Kay.” Emily tugs her closer and Beca leans back down, accepting Emily’s kiss.

****

“Fine,” Emily says against her lips. “Only because I’m also starving.”

****

“Uh huh.”

****

They ease out of bed, stretching and putting their clothes back on. Before Beca has a chance to open the door, Emily gently pushes her back against it, leaning down to give Beca a long kiss, sweet and happy.

****

Beca feels heat in her cheeks, her whole body flushing with pleasure. “What was that for?” She asks.

****

Emily grins. “Because you look extra gorgeous in the morning.”

****

“Wow.”

****

“Or maybe I’m just overflowing with residual hormones from last night.”

****

Beca snorts. “Shut up. You are not.” Emily gives her a teasing smile, finally letting her open the door. “Dork,” Beca murmurs to herself, shaking her head.

****

When they go downstairs, the other girls are just plating food they made for breakfast.

****

“Now they show up right as we get done cooking,” Stacie scoffs. “Typical.”

****

“Good morning to you, too,” Beca replies.

****

She meets CR’s curious gaze over the island counter and feels heat rush into her cheeks. She looks away as CR gives her a grin.

****

“There’s pancakes and bacon,” Chloe chirps, moving to sit at the table next to Flo. “Help yourselves.”

****

Emily grabs a plate, but Beca immediately goes for the coffee pot. She fills two mugs and turns around to hand one to Emily, but Emily’s already there, holding a plate out to her.

****

“Oh.”

****

Emily laughs. “Trade.” She makes sure Beca takes the plate. “You need breakfast, not just coffee.”

****

“I was gonna eat, I swear.”

****

“Uh huh.”

****

Beca grumbles, mainly for show, as she sits down at the table next to the other Bellas. She sips her coffee and eats her pancakes in silence, listening as Flo and Stacie discuss some article they read that morning about environmental law and Emily, Chloe, and CR talk about a new album coming out the following week by some popstar Beca’s vaguely heard of.

****

Mainly she’s lost in her thoughts. She keeps glancing at Emily every time she gestures wildly with her hands, smiling as she talks with the others. She thinks of Emily’s soft smile the night before, the depth in her eyes as she looked into Beca’s with an intense happiness Beca wasn’t prepared for. It made her feel present in her body, all of her emotions being moved from the backburner, the heat on them being turned up to _a lot_.

****

She has the brief urge to turn her mind to something else, to close herself off from that intensity, but she doesn’t. She’s toeing the line between this fun, casual thing they haven’t talked about and this _a lot_ that’s simmering under the surface. She knows they’re going to step onto either side, that they won’t walk this balance beam forever, that that time is coming probably in the next few hours.

****

Beca’s pretty sure she knows what she wants, but what if she’s wrong? What if she messes everything up?

****

She frowns, staring into space, until she can feel Emily’s eyes on her. She turns to see Emily giving her a questioning look.

****

Beca shrugs, returning an easy smile. She’s okay. Just thinking.

****

Emily nods and reaches over to steal Beca’s bacon. Beca makes a grab for it, even though she doesn’t really want it, but Emily’s too quick.

****

“Snooze ya lose.”

****

Beca scoffs. “It’s rude.”

****

Emily laughs and holds the bacon up to Beca’s mouth. “Splitsies.”

****

“Fine.” Beca takes a small bite of it, then watches Emily ungracefully stuff the rest in her mouth, giving Beca a goofy grin. An unexpected happiness surges through her and she glances away, trying to hide her smile.

****

She meets Chloe’s eyes instead, her cheeks heating at Chloe’s raised eyebrows, her gaze flicking between Beca and Emily.

****

Beca looks away from that, too.

****

“Going to shower before we leave,” she tells Emily under her breath and pushes up from the table. She cleans her plate off and hurries up the stairs to their shared bedroom, grabbing her clothes and towel.

****

When she gets to the bathroom, though, Chloe appears right in her space.

****

Beca jumps a mile. “Jesus.” She clutches her heart. “This _again_? Can’t I ever shower in peace?”

****

Chloe ignores her, pushing her into the bathroom. “What’s going on with you and Emily?”

****

“Uh.” Beca clears her throat, playing dumb. “What do you mean?”

****

Chloe gives her a look. “Really? Beca you let her _feed_ you. You’ve been attached at the hip this whole trip.”

****

“I’m…” Beca looks anywhere at Chloe, but a nervous smile’s tugging at her lips and giving her away. “I mean.”

****

“Are you guys together?”

****

“I don’t know?”

****

Chloe huffs. “Well have you _kissed_?”

****

Beca blushes. “Uh. Yeah? Yes.”

****

Chloe finally releases her grip on Beca’s shoulder, staring at her. “Oh, God. Did you guys have sex?”

****

“Dude!” Beca scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Not your business.”

****

“You _did_ , oh my _God_.”

****

“Dude. Go away.”

****

Chloe shakes her head, giving Beca a serious look. “Well, are you dating, or what?”

****

Beca throws her hands in the air. “I said I don’t know.”

****

“Huh.” Chloe hesitates, her voice lowering. “Okay, well. I’m happy for you. Just. Don’t be an ass.”

****

Beca frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

****

“You know.” Chloe waves her hand in the air. “You just have this tendency to let people get _just_ close enough to care before you shut them out.” She gives Beca a pointed look and Beca knows she’s referring to the internship Beca hid from everyone. And probably several other things Beca’s done over the years.

****

Beca grunts.

****

“Plus,” Chloe adds. “She’s not some Treble. She’s a Bella, and anything that happens is gonna affect all the Bellas, especially her new ones.”

****

Beca blinks in confusion. “What?”

****

“I’m just saying if something happens, like you break up or something, she’s gonna have to deal with that in addition to school and whatever else. And it’s gonna mess up the Bellas, which she has to rebuild from scratch, in case you’d forgotten.”

****

Beca’s not following. “Are you saying we shouldn’t date because… it could get in the way of a new Bella championship?”

****

“Not that you shouldn’t date,” Chloe says. “Just that you should consider that. The Bellas are important and she has a lot of pressure on her shoulders.”

****

Beca doesn’t know if the anger that swells up in her is a reasonable reaction or not, but that doesn’t stop it. “Dude. Are you serious right now?”

****

Chloe’s face opens in surprise at Beca’s tone. “Why wouldn’t I be serious?”

****

“Because,” Beca spits out. “We’ve graduated. Like, I’m done with that pressure. Let it go.”

****

“You don’t just _stop_ caring about the Bellas when you graduate, Beca.”

****

“I didn’t say that, but Jesus, Chloe. There are other things in life to care about than whether or not the Bellas win a competition.” Beca shakes her head in disbelief, a bitter laugh escaping from her throat. “I thought we were past this.”

****

Chloe’s mouth thins. “Just because we leave the Bellas doesn’t mean I’m not invested in their future. And it’s stressful building them up from basically nothing like Aubrey and I did. You got to take captainship with a full championship roster. Emily doesn’t have that.”

****

“Well she has us, and I’m pretty sure she’s not psychotic enough to let the future of the Bellas dictate her entire life.” Chloe looks like she’s been slapped and Beca grits her teeth, not wanting to feel guilty. “Look, can you get out? I need to shower.”

****

Chloe gives her a lingering look before pushing out of the bathroom.

****

Beca has to stop herself from slamming the door behind her.

****

//

****

Beca’s still stewing in her anger by the time they say their goodbyes and drive away. Emily keeps giving her worried looks across the middle console, but she doesn’t say anything, just lets Beca be.

****

Beca turns the music up, hoping it will drown out her thoughts.

****

She doesn’t _need_ this, she thinks as she drives. She was happy and she didn’t even have to actively think about it, didn’t have to put aside pressure and stress to feel the good things in her life. And then here Chloe came with this absolute bullshit and now, what?

****

Beca grips the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles going white.

****

Really, though… now what?

****

She glances over at Emily, but Emily’s staring out the window, watching the scenery pass. Her sunglasses are perched on the top of her head and her eyes are far away. Beca feels bad. She doesn’t want Emily to think Beca’s mad at her and she doesn’t want to pop Emily’s bubble the way Chloe popped hers.

****

It’s not fair.

****

She exhales, forcing herself to relax.

****

“You wanna pick the music?” She says, holding out her phone for Emily to take.

****

Emily gives her a small smile. “No, that’s okay. I’m enjoying yours.” She hesitates, then -- “Do you wanna talk about it?”

****

Beca shrugs. “I don’t know.”

****

“Okay.”

****

“It’s not you.”

****

“Chloe?”

****

Beca glances over. “Did she say something?”

****

“No.” Emily tilts her head to the side. “She just looked mad. Did you guys fight again?”

****

Beca rolls her eyes. “Maybe. I guess.” She huffs, her annoyance flaring. “She’s being dumb.”

****

Emily hums thoughtfully. “She just cares a lot.”

****

“Yeah, about stupid shit.”

****

Emily gives her a look. “Beca.”

****

“Sorry.” She lets out a sigh. “I know. It’s just. I dunno. It’s whatever.”

****

“We don’t have to talk about it, but if you want to, I’m here.”

****

Beca frowns. “I don’t want you to…” She pauses, thinking. “We kinda fought about you and I don’t want you to think about what she said to me because it’s dumb.”

****

Emily shifts in her seat. “Did you… tell her about…” She gestures between them.

****

“No, but she brought it up to me.”

****

“Is she mad?” Emily looks distraught at the thought of Chloe being mad at her and it makes Beca’s annoyance grow.

****

She shakes her head. “Not at you. I think she’s mad at something I said.”

****

“Okay…”

****

“I think I hurt her feelings.”

****

“Oh.”

****

Beca grunts. “She’ll get over it.”

****

Emily gingerly folds her hands in her lap, looking down at them. “I don’t want you guys to fight because of me,” she says in a small voice. “You’re best friends.”

****

“It don’t think it was really because you. It was a bigger thing.” Beca tentatively reaches over, offering her hand palm up. Emily slowly grabs it, pulling it into her lap, both of her hands wrapping around Beca’s fingers. “Look, don’t worry about that, okay? This week has been, like, something else, you know? I didn’t expect any of this at all, but I’m glad it turned out this way. I’m cool with everything that’s happened.”

****

Emily gives her a small smile. “Me too.”

****

“Let’s just enjoy the rest of the trip for what it is. We can talk about it when we get back.” She looks over at Emily. “Sound okay?”

****

“Yeah,” Emily says. She squeezes Beca’s hand. “Sounds good.”

****

She turns the music back up after that, and ten minutes later, they’re both singing along, leaving their worry behind the longer they drive.

****

//

****

They’re at rest stop just past Orlando when Chloe texts her.

****

**Chloe:** im sorry for what i said. cynthia rose just read me the riot act and i know i need to get my priorities in line. it’s just hard to leave it all behind and change overnight. but i love you and i want you to be happy and live your life. and i want that for emily too. Im gonna take you out to lunch when we get back to make it up to you… drive safe love you

****

Beca shakes her head, partially annoyed that whatever is going on between her and emily is a conversation topic in the other car, but most of her anger disappears as she reads the text. She guesses you win some and lose some.

****

**Beca:** im sorry for what i said too it was uncalled for. I love you dude. See you when we get back

****

**Beca:** also slow the fuck down bitch you’re gonna get pulled over

****

//

****

Emily drives from Orlando to the state line, giving Beca a break. Beca spends the time thinking about what she wants to say when they get back and listening to Emily harmonize with whatever song is playing.

****

Sometimes she absentmindedly plays with Emily’s fingers over the gearshift, watching as the palm trees begin to disappear and lush greenery takes its place.

****

There’s something both sad and happy about returning home after a vacation, the unfamiliar scenery turning more familiar the closer you get. It feels like the end of some sort of chapter, the deep pause when you finish an album before you shake out of it and put something new on.

****

But it also feels like a beginning, like something new is around the corner, just waiting for a fresh start.

****

//

****

It’s nearing nine by the time they pull into the Atlanta outskirts where Barden is. The sun has just set and the street lamps light the familiar suburban streets.

****

Something in Beca feels incomplete as they close the gap between them and the Bella house. She taps her fingers against the steering wheel, the music just background noise to her thoughts.

****

Before she can think too much of it, she pulls into a park down the street from home.

****

“Uh,” Emily says as Beca parks the car. “What are you doing?”

****

“Come with me.” Beca gets out of the car and Emily follows her. The night is still young, the sky not quite black and starry yet. Beca drags Emily to the nearest picnic table, just a little ways from the car.

****

The park is empty, only one other person out, and they’re on the other side of the large field throwing a ball for their dog. Beca sits down on the top of the table, her feet on the bench. She feels like she has too much energy in her limbs and she wants them to settle. She grabs Emily’s hands, pulling her so she’s standing in front of Beca.

****

“Beca… what?”

****

“I just feel like we can’t go back there yet.” Beca shrugs, her fingers clenching Emily’s tightly. “ _I_ can’t go back there yet. Not ‘til we’re both sure exactly what we’re going back to.”

****

Emily gives her an understanding nod. “Okay.”

****

The air is warm, but Beca still shivers, suddenly nervous. “I’ve been thinking about what Chloe said earlier, and I still think it’s kinda dumb, but I’m gonna tell you anyway because you should consider everything and make choices on your own based on what you think is best for you.”

****

Emily searches her eyes, an apprehensive look growing on her face. “Okay…”

****

“She basically said that if we start dating, and then we break up, that it’ll fuck things up for the Bellas. That you have a lot on your plate trying to do everything yourself, school and life and rebuilding the group. And I was being selfish keeping it to myself because I didn’t want you to feel that pressure and freak out. I just wanted to live in this happy bubble we’ve been in for the past couple of days.” Beca squeezes Emily’s hand. “I’ve realized that’s dumb. Only you know what you want and what’s best. And I know you already feel that pressure, but I also think you have a right to consider that moving forward. I don’t want you to get overwhelmed.”

****

Beca shrugs, trying not to look away from Emily’s eyes, wanting to be genuine and serious and unafraid.

****

“I don’t know what would happen if we started dating,” she continues lowly. “I have no idea if we’d stay together or break up or if things would get complicated. I can’t predict that, no matter how I feel about it or what I want. So I think you should think about the effects of that.”

****

Emily hums, nodding her head, her eyes moving over Beca’s face. “I’m glad you told me,” she says eventually. “But I’ve already thought about all that.”

****

“You have?”

****

“Mhmm.” Emily rests the hand not holding Beca’s on Beca’s knee. “I think you were right at the beginning of this trip. Bellas is about family, and I’m not saying I won’t get stressed. I definitely am gonna get stressed no matter what I say right now. _But_ … you were right. It’s about relationships and sisterhood. In three years, I’ll give the Bellas to someone else. Bellas are forever, but they’re also not. It doesn’t matter if we win any kind of championship or something if at the end I don’t have anything else.”

****

Emily exhales thickly. “Look, Bec. I love you. Maybe I’m not _in_ love with you, but I love you as a Bella and as a friend and as a person, and if we do this, then yeah, I _am_ gonna be in love with you, probably sooner rather than later. I don’t think any kind of fear or pressure about anything else is gonna stop that, and I don’t think I want it to. I haven’t felt like this about anyone before.”

****

Beca’s heart flips over in her chest. “Yeah. I haven’t felt like this about anyone before, either.”

****

“Maybe…” Emily gives her a small smile. “Maybe we’re just on the same channel, and everyone else has satellite radio, you know?”

****

“Yeah,” Beca murmurs, laughter in her voice. “Probably.”

****

They stare at each other for an extended second, the air growing thick between them. Finally, Emily steps closer, in between Beca’s bent legs. Like this, they’re the same height. She reaches up to tug at the ends of Emily’s hair, nervous but excited.

****

“So… you like, wanna do this?”

****

Emily smiles, bright and beautiful in the darkness. “Yeah. I do. Do you?”

****

“Yeah.”

****

“Okay.”

****

“Okay.”

****

“I’m jittery again.”

****

“Me too, dude.”

****

Beca can feel herself smiling when Emily kisses her, her teeth pressing against Emily’s lips, but she doesn’t care. She’s pretty sure she doesn’t stop smiling for the next hour. Not when they climb back into the car. Not when they enter the Bella house holding hands. Not when Chloe gives her a huge hug, murmuring another quick apology in Beca’s ear.

****

Not when they finally climb into Emily’s new bed at the Bella house.

****

Yeah, Beca thinks as Emily’s arms wrap around her middle, their legs tangling under the covers. Maybe there’s something bittersweet about coming home after a vacation.

****

It’s the end of something good, but it’s also a beginning, a fresh start.

****

She doesn’t know where the next part of the story will take them, not with Bellas and school and her career, but the journey is gonna come no matter what.

****

Good and bad, together, they'll just take it as it comes.

****

**Author's Note:**

> emilyjunk.tumblr.com :)


End file.
